Plural temperature refrigerating apparatus



C. H. WURTZ March 16, 1954 PLURAL TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 27 '1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lllllll-ll INVENTOR.

March 16, 1954 C. H. WURTZ PLURAL TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 27,. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Mar. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES fATENT OFFICE- TEMPERATURE REFRIGERA'IING APPARATUS Clifford H. Wur tz, Oakwood, Ohio, assignor to General; Motors Gorporation, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Application August 2'7, 1951, Serial No. 243,732

3 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerating apparatus and more particularly to two compartment household refrigerators.

Since the requirements for freezing and food storage in household refrigerators are quite different, there has been a trend to provide separate isolated compartments for each and separate evaporators for separately cooling the isolated compartments. For processing and ease in handling it is desirable, prior to installation in the refrigerator cabinet, that the two evaporators be handled and processed as a unit.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple, economical arrangement wherein two evaporators in a refrigerant system may be removably connected and processed as a unit during processing and be easily installed in a refrigerator cabinet.

It is another object of my invention to rovide an arrangement in a household refrigerator wherein the freezing and food compartment evaporators may be assembled into the cabinet as a unit and then easily separated and fastened in their proper locations.

To attain these objects I provide flexible refrigerant conduit connections between the evaporators. I provide a support on the freezing evaporator for removably supporting the food compartment evaporator. There is provided an opening at the rear of the separating partition be tween the freezing compartment and the food compartment through which the food compartment evaporator is removed from the freezing compartment and moved into the food compartment where it is fastened in a vertical posi- H tion. The opening at the rear of the partition is then closed by suitable closure means which may include flexible resilient insulating material.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line ll of Fig. '2 disclosing one form of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional 'view taken along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 disclosing a transverse vertical sectional view of the refri erator shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a view of the opposite side of the food compartment evaporator from that shown in Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown Gil- 117.2)

, I 2- in the upper portion of the cabinet a freezing compartment separated by an insulated partition wall 22 from afood compartment 24 beneath the wall 22. These compartments preferably are provided within a cabinet having separate outer doors for the freezing compartment 20 and the food compartment 24 in a manner generally illustrated in the Whitehead Patent No. 1,812,070, issued June 30, 1931.

A rectangular box-shaped freezing compartment evaporator 26 is located in the freezing compartment 26. It is fed with liquid refrigerant from the capillary restrictor tube 28 connecting with the loops 3, 32 and 33 of refrigerant tubing which is bonded to the outer surface of the top, side and bottom walls of the outer surface of the box-shaped sheet metal walls of the evaporator 26. The evaporator also includes a loop 36 of refrigerant tubing for cooling the ice tray shelves and the liquid trap portion 38 at the end of this portion of the tubing. From the end of the liquid trap portion 38 there extends flexible connecting tubing 40 of a smaller diameter which connects with the lower portion of the U- shaped refrigerant passage 42 provided in the substantially flat rectangular vertical refrig erated plate 44. This plate plate 44 is fastened by the spacers and screws 46 to the insulated rear wall 48 of the cabinet. The upper portion of the refrigerant passage 42 is connected by the flexible refrigerant conduit 50 which has a loop mounted upon the upper portion of the side wall of the freezing compartment evaporator 26 and finally connects to an accumulator 52 mounted substantially horizontally adjacent the upper rear edge of the freezing compartment evaporator 26.

The upper portion of the accumulator 52 is connected by a suction conduit 54 with the suctioninlet of a sealed motor compressor unit 56 which withdraws all of the evaporated refrigerant from the two refrigerant evaporators 26 and "4'4 through the accumulator '52. This evaporated refrigerant is compressed by the sealed motor compressor unit andforwar'dedto the condenser 58 where the compressed refrigerant is liquefied and conducted to the capillaryv restrictor tube 28. Preferably for controlling the system I providea snap acting. switch mechanism 60" having its contacts connected in series with one of the supply conductors 62 which supply the electric energy to the sealed compressor unit 56. This snap acting switch 60 has its actuating bellows connected to a thermostat bulb 64 mounted at a suitable location upon the refrigerated plate 44. The switch 60 is preferably a constant cuton switch of a wide cycle type having its outon point selected at some suitable defrosting temperature such as 34 or 36 F. This insures the defrosting of the plate 44 during each idle period of the motor compressor unit 56.

It would be bulky and diflicult and expensive to process and handle the two evaporators separately or when connected by a considerable length of tubing. Therefore, for ease of handling I provide at the lower rear edge of the evaporator 26, two hook-shaped supports 68 for removably supporting the refrigerated plate 44 without disturbing the connecting refrigerant conduits 46 and 50. These connected refrigerant conduits 50 and 40 are sufiiciently small to bend readily and permit the location of the refrigerated plate 44 upon the supports as shown in dot-dash lines in both Figs. 1 and 2. These connections are arranged in a loop of adequate length to permit easy movement of the refrigerated plate 44 to and from each location.

When the refrigerating system is installed in the cabinet, the refrigerated plate M is mounted upon the support 68 as shown in the dot-dash lines in Figs. 1 and 2. There is a long narrow opening iii provided in the refrigerated cabinet between the freezing compartment is and the food compartment 24 at or in the rear of the partition wall 22 directly beneath the dot-dash line position of the refrigerated plate 64. To remove the refrigerated plate id from position on the supports 88 at the rear of the freezing compartment 2% there is applied through the opening 18, a forked tool which may be used to lift the refrigerated plate 24 off its supports 53 and permit the plate to be withdrawn from the freezing compartm nt it through the opening Hi and fastened into place in a vertical position in the food compartment is as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. The rear face of the refrigerated plate 44 is provided with a loop 72 of a strip metal for holding the loop of the connecting refrigerant conduits it and 50 in place during the movement of the refrigerated plate at from one position to another.

After the refrigerated plate 46 has been removed to its bottom position in the food compartment, a sealed bag of insulating material 14 is placed in the opening f and the opening is closed by a suitable cover plate '16. This completes the closure of the freezing compartment 29 and prevents air from flowing from the food compartment as into the freezing compartment 25.

It is ordinarily necessary to defrost the evaporator several times a year. Should there be any frost on the evaporator 25 at such time, the water resulting from the melting of such frost may be collected in the drip pan 18 provided heneath the freezing compartment evaporator 26.

In accordance with the provisions of rule 78a reference is made to the following prior filed application: S. N. 223,550 filed April 28, 1951.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, as may come within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator cabinet including insulated walls enclosing a freezing compartment and a food compartment, said walls including a partition wall between the freezing and the food compartments, a freezing evaporating unit located in the freezing compartment, a food compartment evaporating unit having flexible refrigerant conduit connections with the freezing evaporating unit, said freezing evaporating unit having supporting means for supporting said food compartment evaporating unit thereon in close proximity, said partition wall being provided with an opening between the freezing and food compartments adjacent the rear wall of said cabinet and sumciently large to permit the movement of the food compartment evaporating unit through it, and supporting means for supporting the food compartment evaporating means in the food compartment, said freezing evaporator unit comprising a can shaped food storage element having its bottom wall arranged to conceal said opening.

2. A refrigerator cabinet including insulated walls enclosing a freezing compartment and a food compartment, a partition wall separating the freezing and food compartments, a box shaped freezing evaporating unit in the freezing com- Dartment, a generally fiat evaporating unit hav ing flexible connections with the freezing evaporating unit, said freezing evaporating unit having support means for removably supporting said generally fiat evaporating unit adjacent its rear wall, said partition wall being provided with an opening adjacent the rear of the partition wall between the freezing and food compartments sufficiently large to permit the movement of the entire flat evaporating unit downwardly through it, and means for supporting said generally flat evaporating unit in the food compartment, the bottom wall of said box shaped freezing unit being arranged to conceal said opening.

3. A refrigerator cabinet including insulated walls enclosing a freezing compartment and a food compartment, a partition wall separating the freezing and food compartments, a box shaped freezing evaporating unit in the freezing compartment, a generally flat evaporating unit hav- CLIFFORD H. WURTZ.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNImD STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,789,913 Swezey Jan. 20, 1931 2,000,787 Phillip May 7, 1935 2,166,505 Phillip July 18, 1939 2,291,559 Phillip July 28, 1942 2,450,844. Stuart Oct. 5, 1948 

